Many newborns and children in the early stages of life that are not breastfed are fed using a baby bottle. There are many types of bottles commonly used for feeding infants. Most baby bottles include a container for holding baby formula or other fluid and a synthetic nipple that is used to close the container and to allow for the baby to receive the fluid via a sucking action through a hole in the tip of the nipple. Conventional bottle nipples may include two pieces, a rubber or other pliable nipple portion to which the baby latches and sucks, and a rigid threaded ring piece used to secure the nipple portion to the container. The two-piece nipple design requires assembly when coupling the bottle nipple to the bottle. Moreover, the two-part nipple requires disassembly and separate cleaning of the parts after decoupling the nipple from the bottle.
The transition from breastfeeding to bottle feeding can be a challenging task. Conventional nipples commonly include a consistently smooth outside surface that does not adequately simulate a human breast. Many infants become accustomed to a human breast and are reluctant to latch onto a conventional bottle nipple. Additionally, typical baby bottle containers are generally cylindrical in shape with straight parallel walls that can easily slip out of a person's hand. Conventional bottles are also commonly manufactured from a type of plastic or similar material that easily slides over a typical counter or tabletop, which can frustrate an attempt to prepare the bottle with one hand while holding an infant with the other. While these features of conventional baby bottles result in a bottle that is capable of providing fluids to an infant, improvements that facilitate the preparation and use of the bottle by a person feeding an infant, as well as improvements that encourage latching on by an infant, are desirable.
It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.